Sign



T. 0. JORGENSEN.

SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED 1m30, 1920,

1,357,451 Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET lmi I GH'OTMM:

T. 0. JORGENSEN.

SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED IMI. 30, |920.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

UNITED STATES THEODOR 0. JORGENSEN, 0F BETHLE-IEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

SIGN.

Application filed January 30, 1920.

To all w hom t may concern:

Be it known that l, THnoDoR 0. JORGEN- sun, a citizen of Denmark,residing at Bet lehein, in the county of Lehigh and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements inSigns, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to signs and more especially to changeable signswhich are' capable of forming every letter of the alphabet.

The principal object of the invention is to produce simple and eiicientmeans for quickly changing to the desired letter.

Another obj ect of the invention is to provide means whereby the signmay be non mally and automatically changed to a blank.

In order to carry out the above and other objects, I provide a signboard of rectangular construction having aplurality of shutters hingedlymounted upon one surface of the board so as to outline the variouselements of all the letters of the alphabet, one face of the shuttersbeing colored the same as the sign board and the other side beingcolored so as to sharply contrast with the sign board. Such anarrangement would, ofcourse, be very complicated to operate so I providecontact panels corresponding to the letters of the alphabet for changingfrom one letter to another in a manner to be hereinafter described.

One embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings,where Figure 1 is a plan view of the sign board showing the letter Routlined thereon.

Fig. 2V is a plan view of the sign board showing the same blank..

Figs. 3 and d are sections taken on lines 414-11 and 3-3, respectively,of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation partly in section of myinvention.

Fig. 6 is` a fragmentary topplan view of my invention, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail perspective of the pulley arrangementused with each shutter.

As shown in the drawing, my improved device is composed of the signboard 1 which l shall first describe generally. Upon the sign board 1there is mounted a plurality of shutters which are arranged to conformwith all the common elements in the various letters ofthe alphabet.There is provided the pair of elongated horizontal upper shut-Specication of Letters Patent.

, in -2 is also provided with a fixed leaf 18 Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Serial No. 355,151.

ters 2 and the small horizontal shutters 3 which lie alongside theshutters' 2. Similar shutters `6 and 7 are provided upon the lowerportion of the sign board. A pairvof upper vertical shutters l and apair of lower vertical shutters 5 are provided so as to connectapproximately the extremities of the hori- Zontal shutters l and a `pairof lower vertical shutters 5 are provided so as to connect approximatelythe extremities of the horizont-al shutters 2 and 6. Centrally locatedvertical shutters 8 and 9 extend so as to connect the middle portionsofthe shutters 2 and 6. Between the shutters- 8 and 9 a semi-circularshutter 8 is provided. A pair of upper and lower diagonal shutters 11and 10 are provided so as to radiate from the semicircular shutter 8 andto terminate at the inner section of the shutters 2,1ex tending at rightangles to the vertically centrally'located shutters 8. lt shouldbewunderstood that one side of these shutters is colored similar to thesign board whereas the other side is colored so as tor contrasttherewith, so that when the contrasted colored side is showing, anoutline of various `letters of the alphabet may be made in a manner tobe hereinafter described.

`By referring especially to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the shutter 5.comprises two leaves. One leaf 18 is fixedly attached to the sign board1 by means of the screws 19 and is provided with a sleeve 16. The sleeve16 is also provided with its leaves so that the leaves 5 and 18 may behingedly connected to each other by means of the pins 17. In order tooperate the shutter 5, there is situated thereon a staple lll which eX-tends from each surface so as to receive the eyes 15 which are in turnconnected to the pulleys 21. One cord 2O is used to place the shutter 5in a closed or blank position while the other cord 39 is used to swingthe shutter 5 in an open o r indicating position. These cords 2U and 39pass through the apertures 13 provided in the sign board 1. Now d, itwill be seen that the shutter which in turn is provided with the sleevesand a pin for hingedly mounting the shutter 2. All the shutters areoperated in a similar'manner, so that if the operation of one is known,the others will be clearly understood. p

`By referring to Sheet 2 of the drawing,

wherein is illustrated the operating means used to move the shutters, itwill be seen that the cord 39 passes over the pulley 50 which is carriedupon the shaft l0 which is connected to the eye 2S or' the lever 25.lever 25 is mounted upon a ulcrum 2G and has a right angularly extendingarm 27 extending from its central position. VThe cordf20 extends overthe pulley 2l and the pulley 22 which is mounted upon the shalt 4:1 andis inserted through the lower eye 28 and iixedly attached to the lowerend of the lever 25 in any suitable manner. An extension 29 of the cord20 passes beyond the eye 28 andV is connected to 'the coil spring 30which in turn is attached to a bolt 3l which passes through any suitablesupport 33 and is rixedly attached thereto by means of a nut.

A pair ol drums 3ftare situated upon the shafts 35 behind the lever 25so as to be in substantially the same plane as thearm 27. A belt 33 ismounted upon the drum 34 and is provided with a plurality of contactpanelsV 36 from which extend a plurality oi .fingers 37 for engaging thearms 27. Each of the panels 36 will designate a letter of the alphabetand therefore will be provided withthe necessary ngers 37 to engage thenecessary arms 27 for operating the necessary shutters to make theoutline of the desired letter. f

rlhe letter which the panel represents should, vof course,v be placedupon the panel and this panel will be brought adjacent the arms 27 sothat the fingers 37Vwill engage the same and the drums will then beoperated or rotated in any suitable manner so as to torce the arms 27 totake the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, whereby the lever 25will be operated so as to' pull upon thercord 39 which in turn willswing the shutter to its designating position.

Y Vif-hen it is desired to have the sign board blank, it will be readilyseen that all that is necessary is to rotate the drums so Vas to placethe lingers 37 out of engagementl with the arms 27V so as to allow thecoil springs 3,0 to return the lever 25- to its normal position. v Y

It will bereadily understood that my device may be put to various uses;for example the sign may consist of a plurality of the boards 1 so'as toform words of any length and it will also be seen that the drums 34 maybe operated so that diderent words may be shown upon the whole boardconsisting of a plurality of the sign boards l, if so desired, byarranging the panels 36 upon the belt 38. Y

F rom the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings,the advantages of the construction and the method of operation will belreadily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this inventionpertains, and while l have described the principle and operation of theinvention, together with the device which l now consider to be the bestembodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shownis merely illustrative and that such changes may be made as are withinthe scope o the appended claims.

l-laving thus fully described my invention, what l claim as new anddesire to: secure by Letters Tatent is y l. A device of the classdescribed comprising a board, shutters hingedly mounted upon said board,one side of said shutters being colored similar to said board and theother side of said shutters being colored Vso as to contrast with saidboard, said shutters having such relative location upon the board that aplurality of unitary designs may be outlined thereby, a staple passingthrough each of said shutters, cords attached to said staples and meansfor pulling said cords so as to swing said shutters in the mannerspecilied. Y f Y 2. A device of the class described comprising a board,a plurality of shutters` hingedly mounted upon said board, one side ofsaid shutters being colored similar to said board and the other side ofsaid shutters lacing colored so as to contrast with said hoard, saidshutters having such relative Y location upon the board that a pluralityof unita-ry designs may be outlined therewith, cords ixedly attached tosaid shutters, a shaft mounted a spaced distance from said board,pulleys on said shaft for receiving said cords, and means for pullingsaid cords for swinging said shutters.

3. ln a device of the class described, the combination with a board, aplurality of shutters hingedly mounted upon said board, one side of saidshutters being colored similar to said board and the other side of saidshutters being colored so as to contrast with said board, said shuttershaving relative location on the board so that a plurality of unitarydesigns may be outlined thereby, a pair of cords iixedly attached toeach of said shutters, a lever situated to the Vrear of said board, theextremity of one of said cords attached to one extremity of said lever,and the other extremity of the other cord attached to the otherextremity of said lever, and means provided for operating said y leversso as to pullsaid cords.

ters, a lever having an arm extending at right angles therefrom, oneterminal of said cord attached to one extremity of said lever and theterminal of the other cord attached to the other extremity of saidlever, and means provided for engaging the arm of said lever so as topull said cord.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a board, aplurality of shutters hingedly mounted thereon, one side of saidshutters being colored similar t0 said board and the other side of saidshutters being colored so as to contrast with said board, said shuttershaving such relative location that a plurality of unitary designs may beoutlined thereby, a pair of cords fixedly attached to each shutter, saidcords passing through apertures provided in said board, pulleys situatedbehind said board for receiving said cords, and means provided forpulling said cords so as to swing said shutters.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a sign boardhaving a plurality of shutters hingedly mounted thereon, one side ofsaid shutters being colored similar to said board and the other side ofsaid shutters being colored so as to contrast with said board, saidshutters having such relative locations that a plurality of unitarydesigns may be outlined thereby, a pair of cords ixedly attached to eachof said shutters and passing through apertures provided in said board, aplurality of levers provided for receiving said cords, one terminal ofsaid cords ixedly attached to one extremity of said levers, the terminalof the other cord ixedly attached to the other other extremity of saidlevers, and means provided for operating said levers.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a signboard, a plurality of shutters hingedly mounted upon said sign board,one side of said shutters being colored similar to said board and theother side of said shutters being colored so as to contrast with saidboard, said shutters having such relative locations that a plurality oiunitary designs may be outlined thereby, a pair of cords ixedly attachedto each of said shutters, a plurality of pulleys adapted to receive saidcords, a plurality of levers, the terminal of one of said cords fxedlyattached to one extremity of one of: said levers, the terminal of theother of said cords attached to the other extremity of said levers,means provided for holding said levers in a position so that said panelwill swing so that the side colored similar to said sign board will bein visible position, an arm extending from each of said levers, a pairof drums, a belt passing over said drums, panels situated upon saidbelt, and fingers extending from said panels so as to contact with thearms of said levers for operating certain of said shutters in the mannerspecified. Y

In testimony whereof I aiiixl my signature in presence of two witnesses.

rri-inoDoR o. JoneE'NsEN.

Witnesses HARRY HANSEN, -Vwron ADAMS.

